Asbestos In Shipyards

San Diego Naval Shipyard - Naval Base History

The San Diego Naval Shipyard - or as it is officially known, Naval Base San Diego - is the Navy's largest installation on the West Coast of the United States. It serves as home port to more than fifty ships, and is the home of the Pacific Fleet. Far more than a shipyard or repair station, its closest approximation is the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on the East Coat. In fact, the pair of Navy bases has been likened to twin towers, supporting the operations of the Navy on opposite coasts.

Few people would guess that the station that has become one of the jewels in the Navy's crown almost didn't happen at all. In 1918, the land on which the Naval Base now stands was occupied by a loose coalition of shipbuilding and repair firms known collectively as the Emergency Fleet Corporation, operated under a single company, Pacific Marine Construction. By the end of World War I, Pacific Marine was losing money and the Navy was looking for a small tract of land on which to locate a ship repair yard. By 1920, the Navy and Emergency Fleet Corporation had negotiated a deal to transfer land improvements to the Navy, but there were roadblocks in the way. If it had not been for a threat by the Navy to take its business elsewhere, the San Diego Naval Base would not have been constructed at all.

In June 1920, Congress earmarked $750,000 for the naval repair base. Admiral Roger Welles grew weary of the tug of war between companies who were trying to eke out more profit from the deal, and he threatened to establish the repair base at San Pedro, California instead. However, on February 21, 1921, Welles took formal custody of the property which was to become one of the Navy's largest and most productive naval bases. A year later, on February 23, 1922, Teddy Roosevelt Jr., acting Secretary of the Navy, issued General Order 78 establishing the facility as the U.S. Destroyer Base, San Diego.

That was only the first of many names by which the base would be known in the next 75 years. The Destroyer Base grew rapidly in its first few years. Expanded repair facilities decommissioned 77 ships and commissioned seven in 1924 alone. In addition, the navy established torpedo and radio schools at the facilities and built more shops at the site. But by 1931, there were problems again. Captain Chester W. Nimitz reported that the decommissioned ships stored at the naval shipyard were in poor condition, and noted the inadequacy of the outfitting of finished ships. Between the negative reports and cuts in defense spending brought on by the Depression, the Navy seemed ready to close the naval base. The Bureau of Yards and Docks considered a marginal closure rather than a complete closure, but eventually took no steps to close the base. This was due in large part to the active solicitation of the community's business sector, which had, by this time, inextricably linked the success of their city to the success of the Naval Base located at North Island and its shores.

Instead of closing, the Destroyer Base expanded again, adding more land and buildings through grants from the public services administration.

World War II brought further expansion to the base. The shrewd foresight of city fathers had now created far more than a shipyard at the facility. By 1942, the naval base included training facilities, a naval hospital, ship repair facilities and many other amenities and services. The base was headed toward its present day form as a multi-service facility for naval operations. The addition of an amphibious training unit and the expansion of the fleet training schools forced the Navy to recognize that the scope of operations at Destroyer Base, San Diego had far exceeded its basic function. It was re-designated as U.S. Repair Base, San Diego, which was the name by which it was known throughout the rest of World War II.

From 1943 to 1945, the navy shipyard at the newly designated repair base had converted, overhauled, performed maintenance and repaired battle damage to more than 5,100 ships. Among the maintenance operations performed at the naval base was the construction and delivery of 155 floating dry docks. Many of those were delivered to various bases, and at least seven remained at San Diego. Those floating dry docks became the major repair and training facilities on the base.

On September 15, 1946, the Repair Base was once again reorganized and given a new mission - to provide logistical support, including dry-docking and repair, to ships of the active fleet. The base was renamed Naval Station, San Diego. By the end of that year, the base consisted of nearly 300 buildings with square footage of nearly 7 million feet. The berthing facilities included five piers with more than 18,000 feet of berthing space. The base had expanded to include more than 920 acres, and could accommodate over 21,000 men between officers and enlisted men.

With the war at its end, funding was tight, and the Navy again considered closing the Naval Station, San Diego. Once again, the City of San Diego launched a campaign to support and retain the Navy base. The local chamber of commerce commissioned a report which highlighted the benefits of the San Diego Naval Station. The Navy turned its attention to Long Beach Naval Shipyard instead, and temporarily closed the Long Beach facilities. The Korean War and the ensuing years brought further expansion to the San Diego Naval Station. In the early 1950s, the station grew to more than 1,100 acres and supported a regular workforce of 14,000 employees.

By the 1990s, the Naval Station became the homeport of the U.S. Pacific Fleet when the Long Beach Naval Shipyard was permanently closed in 1994 and Naval Station San Diego became one of a trio of Navy bases that make up the bulk of the navy's Pacific presence. Today, the Naval Base San Diego is homeport to 37 U.S. Navy ships, two Coast Guard cutters and many research and auxiliary vessels. It is also home to more than 100 separate commands, multiple kinds of Navy Support facilities and is the workplace of nearly 40,000 employees.

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